


Love, and Other Lies

by YouScruffyNerfHerder



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Angst, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Misses Emilie Agreste, Alternate Timelines, Angst, Gen, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Identity Reveal, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26470648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouScruffyNerfHerder/pseuds/YouScruffyNerfHerder
Summary: "Why does nobody love me for me? Not even you!"Adrien could pinpoint exactly when his life began to fall apart and it was the moment Ladybug told him who it was she was truly in love with. Nothing would ever be the same.Inspired by a fan-comic by XxAmberPhoenixX!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 27
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, friends! This was inspired by a fan-comic I found on reddit (https://i.redd.it/5j6wmhty4zm51.jpg) and I couldn't resist making a fic around it!
> 
> (PS. I messed a little with the timeline, but no one knows what order things go in anyway and it shouldn't be too distracting!)

A cool wind whipped off the lapping waters of the Seine, disturbing the stillness of the velvety summer night and ruffling Chat Noir’s golden hair.

It was the kind of weather that made him want to race and chase and run and never stop. But tonight, he had to be patient. His lady was on the way, he was sure of it, so he would stay put.

The rose petals skittered around his boots as he clutched the votive candle tight, the warmth of the flame burning his palm a little. The was the last one, he’d blown out all the others one by one as time dragged on, but he was unable to put out the final light. That would mean giving up, letting go of his last hope, accepting defeat. Adrien Agreste was used to disappointment. Chat Noir dug his claws into the dream that Ladybug would be the one person not to let him down.

Ears twitching anxiously, he fished out his stick once again to check for messages, Plagg’s nagging voice in the back of his head. Maybe she’d gotten into some trouble, maybe another Akuma was bringing someone’s worst thoughts to life and far, far away. But the screen was blank. No messages.

Maybe she just wasn’t coming.

As Chat Noir lifted the last candle to his lips, ready to extinguish the last of his hopes, the sound of someone landing on the balcony behind stopped him.

“My lady!”

But when he spun around, it wasn’t a grateful smile that greeted him. Instead, she held her folded hands up to her mouth in shock.

“Chat Noir… what- what is this?”

“Don’t you think it’s _purrr_ fectly romantic, milady?” he asked with a chivalrous little bow.

“I don’t understand…!”

“I promised you a romantic dinner, didn’t I?”

Ladybug still didn’t smile. She went to the railing, staring out over the city and the river as if the bright lights reflecting on the dark water had the answers he was searching for.

“Chat Noir, I’m sorry. You’re more than just my crime-fighting partner, you’re one of my best friends. So I owe you the truth, always.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone else. Someone my heart already belongs to. I just don’t see you as anything more than that - a friend.”

His head hung low, ears drooping.

“Can I at least know who it is?”

The votive crumbled in his hand until it was nothing more than rusted ash on the summer wind. Chat Noir hadn’t even realized he’d activated his _Cataclysm_.

“I really shouldn’t say. It’s a part of my normal life. If you know anything it could put you, me, him - all of us - in danger.”

“But you love him.”

“I do. He’s radiant, carefree, dreamy…”

That particular combination of words startled him. His eyes went wide. His heartbeat wildly in the confines of his costume. His voice was almost lost to the breeze.

“Adrien Agreste.”

“Wh-what?” Ladybug leapt back, her arms waving frantically, “No! No way, you’re wrong!”

“You promised me the truth, Ladybug, so tell me! Is that who you love?”

“I don’t know what to say… I'm sorry.”

His gloved fist slammed against the railing.

“You have no idea what it’s like. Every day, I put on a fake smile. Every day I keep my head down and stay quiet and hope I can make it through another day. Every day, someone asks if I’m okay and I have to lie. And everyone _likes_ that about me! Chat Noir is the only time I’m free to be myself.”

He turned away, but not quickly enough to hide the red-hot tears careening down from beneath his mask.

“Why does nobody love me for me? Not even you!”

“Chat…?”

A wave of dark, bubbling chaotic energy overtook him and Adrien Agreste fell to his knees.

In the distance, the earth-shaking footsteps of a giant ice cream monster thundered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure whether to continue this, it's such a dramatic place to end! Let me know what you think in the comments below! Thanks again to XxAmberPhoenixX for being such an inspiration!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien return home to face the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, friends! It's been over a week since I first posted this story and everyone has given me such amazing and positive feedback - I had to continue, and make it my own!
> 
> Please note that this chapter can be a little tough for people who grew up like Adrien did. Be kind to yourself, friends!

Adrien didn’t particularly remember fighting a giant singing ice cream monster. He had only the vaguest recollection of Ladybug feeding Plagg bits of cheese danish to fuel another transformation and wondering why she had the pastry on her to begin with. He didn’t remember falling into bed in his jeans and sneakers.

  
She knew his identity. She loved him. She loved the fake him. And only the fake him.

  
The sun crept over the horizon, flooding his cavernous bedroom with the silvery dredges of dawn. Sleep closed over his head like water.

* * *

Days passed, how many Gabriel wasn’t sure. He always had trouble remembering the date, especially when he became engrossed in his work. Sketches appeared on the computer screen, coffee appeared in his cup, and on occasion, his little bird appeared with some gossip.

“Nathalie, what delicious negative emotions plague our city today?” he asked above the rim of his latte.

“It’s your son, sir. He hasn’t left his room since the fight with Glaciator.”

She faced her tablet towards him, its screen tuned to the security footage of Adrien’s bedroom. The boy lay nearly motionless in an unmade bed, one shoe on as if he’d meant to get out and get some fresh air but gave up halfway through preparations.   
“The school has been wondering about his absence,” she continued, “Should I look into private tutoring again?”

“Yes, yes, take care of whatever needs to be done.”

Gabriel sipped at his coffee and continued his work, the conversation evidently over.

“You know, he must be coping with a lot of negative emotion.”

His eyes narrowed to irritated slits.

“This has already been discussed. I will not akumatize my own son. Out of the question.”

“I never said we would akumatize him,” she said, her voice taking on a sinister tone as her fingertips brushed the peacock broach at her chest, “There are many ways to harness the feelings of others and turn them to your advantage. His despair has reached new heights, and you’ve felt it too.”

“It has gotten stronger lately. Almost overpowering. What you’re suggesting - he’ll stay safe?”

“He will be out of the way of any fighting and with emotions this strong, you will have your Miraculouses with no trouble at all.”

Hawkmoth’s merciless grin spread wide across Gabriel’s cold lips.

“Excellent. Let us begin.”

* * *

Marinette hugged her pillow anxiously to her middle, although it didn’t stay there for long as she tossed it aside, flopping across her bed with her arms wide like a particularly restless starfish.

“Oh, Tikki, I can’t believe I never realized! Adrien is Chat Noir, of course he is! How could I have been so blind?”

“Don’t worry about it, Marinette!” the tiny red creature cheered, “We kwami always have always suspected that our powers shield our owners’ identities. Otherwise, all of Paris would have recognized you by your pigtails by now!”

“I guess you’re right. But did you see the look on his face when I told him I loved- Oh! Oh no!”

Marinette shot up, eyes wide with alarm.

“Adrien knows that I love him! Oh no, no, no, this is so bad!”

Leaping out of bed, she began to pace a frantic pendulum of panic. 

“I’ll have to change schools, leave Paris, maybe change my name! If I switch the order of ‘Dupain’ and ‘Chang’-”

“Calm down, Marinette! You did want him to find out eventually, didn’t you?”

“Not like this!”

Marinette collapsed into her desk chair, sending it spiraling across the floor with her spinning in it.

“He must absolutely hate me now.”

“How could Chat Noir hate you? He loves you!”

“But I told him I loved the non-Chat part of him, the fake part of him!”

Tikki shook her tiny head. 

“No, no. All kitties are the same, playing cool and hard-to-get when they secretly want love and attention. Do you think all those jokes and all that swagger is genuine too? I don’t think Chat Noir’s personality is real all the time either.”

“So who’s the real Adrien Agreste then?”

“I think that’s for him to decide. From what I know over all these years is that growing up in his situation can be tough and make it hard for a person to decide who they really are inside and wearing an actual mask can’t help. He’ll need to be surrounded by loving and supportive people to help him through this!”

The little kwami nudge-nudge-nudged Marinette’s phone across the desk and beneath her hand.

“You’re right, Tikki! It’s up to me to support him as best I can - as Marinette!”

* * *

The phone rang and Adrien could barely muster the strength to peer up at it and read the name on the screen.

“Marinette?”

“Adrien! There you are! We missed you at school this week!”

“Sorry. Something came up and I’ve been a little busy.”

“Right, of course! Do you think you could make time to visit the bakery later today? We can pack lunch and go to the park, get outside, get some fresh air!”

“You know, that sounds really, really nice right now. Send me a text when-”

The door slammed open.

“Seize him,” Gabriel ordered coldly.

The bodyguard didn’t need to be told twice, lumbering over with a grimace. Adrien tried to duck and dive away from swinging arms and meaty hands, but in the end, the bodyguard’s sheer mass quashed any hope of escaping.

* * *

“F-father?”

Adrien’s panicked voice cried out from where his phone must have fallen to the floor. Marinette clutched her own phone tight in her white-knuckled grip, listening hard for any clues.

“Why are you doing this? You’re hurting me! Let me go!”

“There’s something I must show you. Come along.”

The line clicked to a dial tone.

“Tikki, do you think anyone saw Chat Noir detransform last night besides me?”

“I don’t think so,” the kwami replied, “He was very careful about picking a secluded place so you two wouldn’t end up on the evening news again.”

“So Mr. Agreste is really hurting Adrien! We have to help!” she cried, jumping up heroically.

“Are you sure this isn’t a selfish use of your powers?”

“We both know that Adrien’s dad isn’t a very nice man sometimes and and you heard them on the phone, he’s in trouble! This isn’t about how I feel about Adrien or Chat Noir, this is something I’d do for anyone who needed help.”

“You’re right! Let’s go!”

“Tikki, spots on!”

With a whoosh and a twirl, Marinette became Ladybug, ready to take on the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, friends. Please comment and Kudos, your appreciation gives me strength in these trying times! You are amazing humans and I love you all!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien learns a secret. Gabriel has a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/CW: I don't want to spoil this one, but just know that this chapter is rather frightening to some readers! You know those episodes of even the cutesiest shows that are absolutely horrifying? This is that.

The golden cage of the elevator creaked and groaned as it trundled down, down beneath Agreste Mansion. The space was cramped, the bodyguard's broad shoulders leaving little room for Adrien and Gabriel both.

Adrien had never been below the house before although he was vaguely aware that such a space existed for storage and the like in the same nebulous way he knew there must be a grocery store the house staff used to keep the mansion stocked. But his father wouldn't drag him down here - and literally - to retrieve some bulk toilet paper. Not when the cold hand weighed heavy on the boy's shoulder like a threat. No, this was something much more significant.

Finally, the elevator ground to a halt before a gaping cavern, at its center was a garden alight with an unnatural glow. Here and there, meticulously pruned shrubs dotted and ringed the space, their boughs heavy with silver chrysalides like Christmas ornaments. Adrien watched in fascination and horror both as the seam of one began to part and split, a newly born insect clawed its way forth, wet and twisted, as its brethren moths flitted anxiously nearby in the cool, underground air. He only managed to tear his gaze away long enough to spy some kind of statue or obelisk of metal and glass that glinted in the blue-white light, but what it was exactly, he couldn't tell.

"What is this place?"

"Come. It's time you knew the truth."

His trepidation mounted as they approached the unusual structure and he realized with alarm that the shining pillar across the garden was no mere sculpture. Like a princess in a glass coffin, looking every bit as radiant as he remembered, lay Emile Agreste.

"Mother?" Adrien cried, racing up to the casket and pressing his fingers to the glass, "Mother!"

Whipping back around, he rounded on Gabriel.

"You told me she disappeared! You lied to me!"

His father's expression didn't shift an inch.

"You were too young at the time to understand."

Cough after body-shaking cough wracked Emilie's slender frame, sending her tumbling to the floor of the mansion foyer. Although Gabriel raced to her side, little could stop the crimson result of her illness.

"Your mother was very sick and had been for a long time. She kept this secret from you as she didn't want you to worry."

The double doors to the piano room opened only a crack and Emilie began to haul herself to her swaying feet, relying far too heavily on Gabriel for support. Adrien, not even yet hitting a growth spurt yet, peered up at her with huge, questioning eyes as green as her own. Her smile was fragile, yet sincere.

"One day it became too much. She fell into a deep sleep and never woke up again."

Lying on their bed as gracefully as Ophelia in repose, those green eyes slipped shut and her hand tumbled from her husband's.

"I keep her safe here until we can heal her."

"W-Well, we can't leave her here forever!" Adrien stammered.

There were so many things about her he was afraid he had forgotten. Her gentle grin, her golden hair, the lullabies she would sing whenever bad dreams had gotten the best of him, no matter how old he had gotten. How could his father have kept this from him and for so long?

Adrien was lost in the memories and didn't notice the cerulean shadow stepping out from behind Gabriel.

"There must be something we can do!"

"Yes. There is. You could help your mother, Adrien, maybe even save her life. Would you be willing to try? Even if it was difficult?"

"Yes, of course! I'd do anything!"

Only then did he turn back to see Mayura lurking, feathered fan resting delicately on blue lips, unperturbed by his startled leap behind.

"My friends and I have devised a plan and you're exactly the person we need to make it work."

Gabriel's smile grew as wide and hungry as a circling shark, his voice darkening to a sinister degree. He and Mayura advanced on the boy, sending him stumbling back. Behind him, his own glass coffin, smaller but no less pristine, rose from the floor.

"Wait! Please! What are you-?"

His words broke into a scream as he tripped over and into its open and waiting jaws.

"Please, Father!"

A feather drifted airily after in unhurried arcs, heedless of Adrien's unbridled panic.

"Please! You don't have to do this!"

The glass slammed shut, leaving him no escape for all that he twisted and writhed out of its path.

"Nathalie! Marinette! Help! Please!"

The amok alighted on his forehead, as soft as a mother's kiss. The sleep toxins overtook him.

* * *

Gabriel fell to his knees, fist pounding the ground. Mayura went to him, hand smoothing across his tense shoulders gently.

"Will he at least sleep soundly?" he growled.

Her look was sickeningly pitying.

"No. But you don't want him to. A restful sleep won't help us, but his nightmares will give rise to the most powerful sentimonster that has ever lived."

In her fist, Adrien's "lucky charm" bracelet began to glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, and this is exactly why they definitely should and also never every should let me write a tie-in novel. Are you appropriately terrified for our boy? Leave me a comment and I shall drink your tears and give my best Hawkdaddy laugh.


End file.
